On the fourth day of the fifth month, the day before the Dragon Boat Festival, the streets and alleys of Bianliang City were filled with the fragrance of rice dumplings. Every household hung calamus and mugwort leaves. Even the city gate was full of calamus and mugwort leaves. Crowds came and went, filling the city with a festive atmosphere.
The carriage drove out of the city gate and headed for the bank of the Yellow River.
Cotton clouds floated in the sky. Out of Bianliang City, it was a flat plain as far as the eye could see. Trees were planted along the official road, villages, fields, chickens, dogs, pedestrians, and tributaries of the river passed by the villages. After a while, the carriage arrived at its destination. It was a manor in the green forest, built along the nearby river. There were several large and small villas next to it. It could be seen that they were all the villas of the rich.
Ning Yi came out of Bianliang City today to attend the invitation proposed by Li Shishi. As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, the Top Courtesan of the Capital was not idle. She had gone out to visit friends and find a teacher. On her way back, she had been delayed because she followed the birthday parade fleet to the north. Encountering such a big event as the Dragon Boat Festival, she had been rehearsing for the Dragon Boat Festival in the rest of the time, except for some guests she could not refuse. The villas here were originally the property of Fanlou. Today was the last day of rehearsal, so she told her mother Li Yun that she wanted to find some peace and came here to train. She also invited a few friends to have a private party.
Since the person he was going to meet this time was a woman, and Xiao Chan was no longer his servant girl, Ning Yi didn't bring anyone else out this time. He only had the servant Dongzhu, who had accompanied him to the north, drive the carriage and came alone. After reporting his name, a maid welcomed him in. Before he entered the inner courtyard, he heard the sound of stringed instruments, and a woman was singing.
"… Count the yellow plum rain. Meet again on the fifth day. The millet is wrapped in gold, the grass is covered with jade, the scenery is still Jing Chu … "
"It's the girl who is practicing the new poem written by Zhou Bangyan."
The maid led the way and introduced. Obviously, she also knew the lethality of Zhou Bangyan's poem to ordinary literati.
After turning the small door in front, they came to a hall with ventilation on all sides. It was quite cool with curtains. Miss Shishi danced in the hall and sang the new poem with the help of a group of musicians. Two people were already sitting in the hall with the best view. One of them was Yu Ho-chung, and the other was also in his early twenties, but seemed to be more mature than Yu Ho-chung. When Ning Yi came in, Miss Shishi happened to turn her head and smiled at him. Her smile was clear and contained the joy of meeting an old friend. Her smile. Unlike the rumors, Ning Yi was that of the Capital Courtesan of the capital.
This kind of smile was even more attractive than the smile that Yun Zhu and Jin'Er gave to others. Perhaps to Yun Zhu and Jin'Er, that kind of life was like struggling to find a direction in the rolling waves. But to her, it was like dancing on the waves with ease.
She smiled at Ning Yi, but did not stop. She sang the new poem that was said to be written by Zhou Bangyan and danced slowly. She did not dance very fast, but there was a delightful temperament in her movements, elegant and grand. Ning Yi walked around and nodded to Yu Ho-chung and another person. After sitting down, he listened to the song.
"… Ai Hu, the tailor. More red talismans, arms wrapped with red silk. Powder and fragrance, calling the wind to fan the small window at noon. Shen Xiang has gone far away, I advise you not to drink, reminiscing the past … "
"… Slowly singing the oriole's throat, lightly tapping the elephant board, is better than reading Li Sao Zhang. The fragrance of the lotus is dim. Gradually entering the depths of the intoxicated land. Lying at the head of the river, painting boats and drums … "
Ning Yi had listened to Yun Zhu sing for a long time. Although he was not an expert in the appreciation of poetry and singing, he had at least entered the door. Speaking of which, Yun Zhu's singing skills had already returned to the basics, especially when she sang to Ning Yi and Jin'Er. There were very few fanciful tricks, and the pure voice could immerse people in it, as if it was cleansing the mind. The head and even the whole body seemed to be included in the gentle voice, as if it was being massaged. Even if Ning Yi often played some modern songs for her to sing, she could always find the feeling that Ning Yi wanted, whether it was cheerful, sad or sentimental.
From this point of view, whether it was the skills of the musicians on Li Shishi's side, or the singing skills that she performed while dancing, there was still a gap between them and Yun Zhu. But what appeared on the other side was not a single extreme. The singing of the girl in front of him, the look in her eyes, and every movement of her dance, all seemed to be making a perfect hint, merging together into a scroll.
Although the dance was not fast, during the singing, she almost showed countless styles, such as the joy of the Dragon Boat Festival, the tranquility when the rain fell, young girls, women, women living in seclusion, gently waving a round fan, young men drinking wine, and scholars reading. These feelings flowed in her eyes, body, and singing. The three-dimensional image became blurred for a moment, and then turned into a complicated world.
The poem was originally written by Zhou Bangyan. At this time, when writing a poem about the Dragon Boat Festival, it was either to describe the style of the people, or to write about Qu Yuan, feeling sad at times. Zhou Bangyan's poem also wrote about these two, but it was not inferior. The style of his poem was originally graceful. The first half of the poem described the scene of the Dragon Boat Festival, which had always been his strength. It was written beautifully, and in the second half, he wrote about the past and wrote about "Li Sao". But in the last half of the poem, "Gradually into the intoxication, deep in the intoxication", everything was blurred in the distant scene, and everything described was diluted, leaving only the complexity of the world.
At this point, Li Shishi's voice and music gradually became softer, and at the end of the poem, "Lying listening to the river, painting boats stacked with drums", her voice gradually became inaudible, and her movements gradually stopped. But strangely, the surrounding movement was amplified. The wind blew, the leaves rustled, and the whole hall seemed to become more three-dimensional. In the hall, the girl perfectly expanded the hint to the whole world.
She put down her hands and stood there motionlessly, closed her eyes, and let the breeze blow her hair. After a moment, she suddenly opened her eyes, and her mouth was wide open, as if she was shouting "Ah — —", but no sound came out. After she bowed to the musicians beside her, she walked over and said casually, "How was it? How was it? "
"Good."
The three of them clapped their hands honestly. Li Shishi laughed, "Actually, the queue is almost done. I came here to slack off, and I don't know if my mother will scold me …" Then, she introduced the three of them. Other than Yu Ho-chung, Ning Yi, the other one was Chen Sifeng, who had been mentioned many times.
Honestly speaking, the three men present were not very interested in seeing their childhood friends play in the capital. It would be fine if they were really childhood friends, but in reality, they were just three people who lived at the end of the street but weren't familiar with one another. The only one who was really popular was probably Li Shishi, but they didn't have any grudges with one another. Since they were gathered together, it didn't matter if they got to know one another.
In the following period of time, under Li Shishi's lead, the three of them chatted casually. Although both Yu Ho-chung and Chen Sifeng had a good impression of Li Shishi, they wouldn't treat Ning Yi or each other too deliberately. After all, it was just a gathering of friends. Yu Ho-chung had met Ning Yi, and Chen Sifeng had heard from Li Shishi that Chen Sifeng was a son-in-law. Chen Sifeng knew that Chen Sifeng was a talented son-in-law, but he was unable to enter the imperial examinations. In the following period of time, although they occasionally mentioned their families, they mostly talked about Zhou Bangyan's new poem, the grand gathering in the capital, and Shishi's performance. It was a joyous and harmonious conversation.
Ning Yi hadn't been to the capital before, so he naturally didn't know how popular Li Shishi was in the capital. Yu Ho-chung and Chen Sifeng would explain, and Shishi would either chuckle or add to the conversation, sincerely and skillfully responding. To her, it was probably a form of relaxation to be able to interact with what she considered to be her 'childhood friends'.
The four of them went to the side of the estate near the river. This was a tributary of the Yellow River, and the water could be considered clear. There was a waterside pavilion on this side of the estate. The clouds in the sky obscured the sunlight, so the pavilion was rather cool. Shishi had her servants bring over wine and pastries, and as they ate, they chatted and laughed. There was also a small pleasure boat by the river, and the four of them decided to paddle on the river to play.
Ning Yi didn't forget to do business, so he indirectly asked them about their opinions on how restaurants and brothels made money. Not long after, Shishi called the musicians over, and they rehearsed on the grass beside the pavilion. In fact, it was just a performance for the three of them. At this time, they were a little more familiar with each other. As they chatted, they also walked around the area. Ning Yi saw a room in a nearby embroidery building with a lot of paper folded into four petals, and there seemed to be some writing on them. After seeing them, he asked what they were.
In this era, paper was still a relatively expensive thing, especially the paper that was folded into flowers, which looked quite beautiful and much tougher than ordinary paper. Of course, it wasn't a big deal in the future, but in the present, each piece of paper probably had to go through many processes to achieve such an effect. Hearing his question, Shishi smiled and explained that these papers were indeed expensive, but they were sold in many places in the city, especially in the brothels. Many scholars would buy them, write their own poems, and then fold them into flowers to give to the girl they liked. Although most of them were given to the brothel girls, there were also many who got married because of this, so this paper was also called Marriage Paper.
"In fact, many times, marriage is like paper …"
Speaking of this, Shishi sighed, and then laughed. She told Ning Yi some interesting stories about men and women in the brothel. At this time, Yu Ho-chung and Chen Sifeng seemed to have something to do, or maybe they had something to say to each other, so they left for a while. As Li Shishi explained, Ning Yi frowned and thought of something. Then he remembered the matter of Yuan Jin'er that he was worried about. Because of Jin'er, Yunzhu and Xiaochan might have some feelings. Since girls liked to give gifts, he could write a love letter and give it to them during the Dragon Boat Festival. Xiaochan loved poems the most, and Yunzhu might be more indifferent, but she would definitely like it.
Thinking of this, he immediately asked Li Shishi how to make the flowers. She was curious, so Ning Yi told her that he could give flowers to the girls in his family. He was already married, and there was no need to hide the fact that he had a wife, a concubine, and a child. He told Li Shishi that he had not given gifts to his family for a long time. Shishi's expression became gentle. She found some paper and taught Ning Yi how to fold the flowers.
"But … I taught Brother Ning how to fold flowers. Can you let Shishi take a look at the poems that Brother Ning wrote inside?"
"Ah …" Ning Yi was slightly stunned.
"Shishi promises not to sing it outside." She raised her finger and made a solemn promise. In fact, Ning Yi was slightly surprised that her request was too small. Moreover, if he did not sing it outside, what meaning would it have to her? He smiled and nodded his head in agreement.
While he was folding the paper, on the other side of his field of vision, the courtyard next to this place suddenly became lively. Servants ran around, as if preparing for a party. The grassland on this side of the river was connected. Ning Yi looked over and asked, "Who are those people over there?"
Shishi tilted her head and took a look. Then, she lowered her head and folded the paper as usual. "Over there, it's the courtyard of a viscount. It hasn't been used for a long time. Maybe there's a party … We can't afford to offend them."
He didn't know why she was talking about whether they could afford to offend them or not. However, at the same time, a voice rang out from the courtyard next door. "Everyone, don't be like this. I've asked clearly. The one who came today is Miss Shishi … I can't afford to offend her."
"She's just a top courtesan. Why can't you afford to offend her? Moreover, we're not targeting Li Shishi. We're just borrowing your place, and you're still being so wishy-washy … "
"You can't say that. Everyone … You're obviously here to cause trouble. Miss Shishi is there to entertain a few friends. You don't have to be so jealous. If I offend Miss Shishi, how would I have the face to go to Fan Lou in the future? How would I survive in Bianliang's brothel? Hey, everything can be discussed … "
"What's there to discuss? We're just borrowing your place to hold a poetry party. We're not doing anything. You're thinking too much. We're all scholars. Don't be so petty. "
"What scholars? Isn't it just that Miss Shishi hasn't met you guys yet? How dare you say that you're not targeting Li Shishi. This isn't the first time. It's just jealousy. Hey, have you found out who's next door? Don't be a pushover. It's not the first time. It's not good to see such things. Moreover, it's my place … "
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